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Multiple mail addresses in PSS

  • Bijgewerkt

Managing Multiple Email Address Types in Patient Self Service (PSS)

Purpose
To support studies where more than one person may need to receive questionnaires for the same patient (e.g., parent–child studies, proxy consent, caregiver involvement), the system now supports multiple email address types.

An email address type defines a category of email address that can be associated with a participant record.
Each type can represent a specific role, such as:

  • Patient (default)
  • Parent
  • Child
  • Caregiver
  • Legal Representative

 

How It Works

  1. Define email address types in PSS Management (e.g., “Parent” and “Child”).
  2. Each type can have:
    • Its own information email template (optional).
    • Its own “send automatically” setting.
  3. Each schedule of a subchapter in the study can be linked to a specific email address type.
  4. On the Patient Details page, users can store multiple email addresses — one per type.
  5. When invitations or reminders are sent, the system uses the email address that matches the configured type.
  6. If a type is disabled, no emails or logins occur for that type, but existing data remains stored.

 

When to Use Multiple Email Address Types

You should configure multiple email address types when:

  • Different questionnaires need to be sent to different recipients

and

  • You’re working with dependent participants, such as a parent–child pair, or a patient–proxy setup.

📚 Use Case Example: Parent and Child Study Setup

The following example demonstrates how to configure PSS to send one subchapter to a child and another to a parent, using two email address types.

Scenario Overview

In this study:

  • The child is the primary participant (the patient record).
  • The parent provides consent and completes parent-specific forms.
  • Two subchapters are defined:
    1. Child Diary / Questionnaire – completed by the child.
    2. Parent Consent / Follow-up Form – completed by the parent.

To direct each subchapter to the correct recipient, we create two email address types: Child and Parent, and link them to the relevant subchapters.

Step 1 - Create the Email Types

  1. Go to Management > Self Service Settings > Email address types
  2. Click Add email address type.
  3. Create the first type:
    • Title: Child
    • Information email template: Select a template (optional)
    • Send information mail automatically: ✔
    • Click Save.
  4. Add the second type:
    • Title: Parent
    • Information email template: Select a parent-specific template (optional)
    • Send information mail automatically: ✔
    • Click Save.
Figure 1.png

Figure 1: Example configuration for Parent and Child email types
 

Notes:

  • Each title must be unique within a study.
  • Types can be reordered by dragging.
  • Inactive types remain available for reference but do not send emails or appear in patient details.
  • The system prevents deleting or editing a type if it’s already used in schedules or data.

 

Step 2 – Assign Email Types to Subchapters

  1. Go to Management > Self Service Settings > Schedule.
  2. Edit the schedule for the Child’s subchapter.
    • In the Email Address Type dropdown, select Child.
    • Save the schedule.
  3. Edit the schedule for the Parent’s subchapter.
    • In the Email Address Type dropdown, select Parent.
    • Save.
Figure 2.png

Figure 2: Selecting an Email Address Type in the schedule editor
 

Step 3 – Enter Email Addresses on the Patient Record

  1. Go to CRF > CRF Data > Patient Details.
  2. You’ll now see separate fields for each active type:
  3. Enter the correct email addresses and click Save.
Figure 3.png

Figure 3: Patient Details with multiple email fields
 

Notes:

  • Changes are logged in the audit trail with the corresponding email type.
  • Inactive email types do not appear but remain stored.

 

Step 4 – Sending Information Emails (Optional)

If you have linked information email templates to your types:

  1. On the Patient Details page, click Send Information Email.
  2. If more than one email type has a linked template, a dropdown appears to select the recipient.
Figure 4.png

Figure 4: Dropdown to select which email type to send to
 

If only one active type has a template, the email sends automatically without a dropdown.

Additional options and information - Logging in as Patient (Testing or Review)

When using Login as Patient:

  • If multiple email types are active, a selection popup appears.
    • Choose Child to log in as the child’s account.
    • Choose Parent to log in as the parent.
  • If a subchapter is configured for a specific type, it’s preselected.
  • The selected type is recorded in the audit trail for both login and subsequent actions.

Additional options and information – Study Duplication

When duplicating the study:

  • All email address types (Child and Parent) are duplicated, including:
    • Their order and status
    • Linked templates
    • “Send automatically” settings
  • All PSS schedules retain their linked email address type, so configuration remains consistent.

 

Additional options and information – Importing Participant Data

When importing data:

  1. In the import wizard, you can now select columns for each email address type:
    • Child → “ChildEmail” column
    • Parent → “ParentEmail” column
Figure 6.png

Figure 5: Import screen with mapping for Parent and Child email types
 

  1. Each mapping is optional.
  2. If an old import setup is used and the study now contains multiple email types, the import will fail with a message indicating that email types must be defined.

 

Additional options and information – Monitoring and Audit Trail

All actions are recorded with the email address type for full traceability, including:

  • Editing or saving email addresses
  • Sending invitations or information emails
  • Logging in as patient
  • Automated actions executed by schedules

This ensures that all communication and access can be tracked back to the appropriate email category.